| Author | Message | ||
     Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.242.126 |
So, what did we all think? I quite liked it - showed a lot of promise. But I'm a sucker for anything involving religion/demonic possesion. There were things wrong with it, but I think that overall it was more good than bad. With this and the superb Dead Set, it's good to see some serious-minded horror stuff on British TV. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.129.21.168 |
More good than bad. I enjoyed watching it but again - and maybe this is me - it's not bothered me as i always feel horror should. I'll watch it again, though. And Shaw was actually sparkling in this; most often he's as flat as a pankcake. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.141.80 |
D'oh - another I've missed - what channel was it on, guys? | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.129.21.168 |
BBC1 | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.70.11.219 |
I have to agree Tony that Martin Shaw was really good in this - will be interested to see how it develops. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
I liked Shaw, too. Like I said: not great, but it showed some promise. And (I'm sick of saying this, btw), taken in context - a BBC prime-time show aimed at a mainstream audience, it's quite subversive in the handling of the supernatural elements. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.129.21.168 |
I did enjoy it but I was reminded again just how much really doesn't grip me these days, films either. I'm reading Aickman and dipping into Ramsey and they make me come away feeling hungry, wanting to find or recreate their worlds. Comparing them with anything new in film or on telly makes everything feel like it's made out of lego...  | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.195.253 |
I can't wait to see this. I loved Ultraviolet, and I've always like Martin Shaw. Plus, like Zed, I'm a sucker for exorcism, possession, and other religious-themed horror. I'm heartened to see this getting the thumbs-up from people here.  | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.129.21.168 |
A cautious thumbs up! I just wish it was more gritty; it had more than a whiff of cocoa to me, this one. Anyone read Will Storrs book 'Vs The Supernatural'? It has a wonderful, chilling chapter on exorcism. One of my all-time favourite books on the supernatural because it feels so damned right and real. And it's bloody terrifying - one of the handful of books to have actually frightened me. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 83.98.9.4 |
I thought it was quite funny how it seemed to be doing the police procedural but with priests and demons instead of cops and robbers - right down to his superior officer coming in to tell him he was off the case. I'll watch it again next week - there were some nice touches - but I'm still reserving judgement. | ||
| Alansjf (Alansjf) Username: Alansjf Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 93.97.93.216 |
"I'll watch it again next week - there were some nice touches - but I'm still reserving judgement." That's pretty much my feeling. I'll need to see a couple more episodes before I can give it a definitive thumbs up or down. | ||
| Mark West (Mark_west) Username: Mark_west Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.39.177.173 |
I quite enjoyed it - especially the atmosphere, Martin Shaw and the wonderfully sedate camera-work, though it did have some flaws and I had assumed it would be self-contained episodes rather than an (at-least) 2 show arc. But yes, good for the Beeb and I'll give it another go next week. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.129.21.168 |
My dread is that it turns into another 'secret war' thing. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.195.253 |
I'll consider it a verdict of 'thumbs sideways' then, until I've actually seen it. ;-) Tony, I'll look out for that book you mentioned. Have you read The Exorcism of Anneliese Michel? It's a fascinating, harrowing, desperately sad account of a real case that happened in Germany (while I was living there, in fact - I remember hearing about it on the news). | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.129.21.168 |
I haven't read it, but I've seen the German film. Thing is, I preferred it to the US version of the story, but was saddened that it was the other end of the see-saw; it'd be nice to see an open-minded version if only because doubt either way seems more powerful (for me). What was said at the time, Huw? | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.129.21.168 |
And yes - read the storr book. Will Storr vs the Supernatural it's called, a slightly glib title pushed on him by the publishers. What creeped me was that he started writing it as a skeptic, and changed his mind completely... He's very down to earth, funny and very convincing. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.195.253 |
I can't remember exactly, Tony, but I remember seeing her name in newspapers and on the German news. The band PiL named a song after her, too (and managed to get her name wrong). I prefer the American film too. Requiem wasn't bad, but it ignored a huge amount of material from the book, which is, as far as I know, the main source of information on the case. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.195.253 |
There are some pictures of Anneliese before and during her ordeal, but they are very disturbing:http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=anneliese+michel&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=i mage_result_group&resnum=4&ct=title anneliese michel - Google Image Search | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.129.21.168 |
Daft, but before your post I preferred the German one, but now I like the US one! Yes, those pics are awful. The film never captured the effect of them. | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.74 |
I thought the first episode of Apparitions was skilful and intelligent within its limits, but it's based on mediaeval claptrap of the kind that gives rise to the likes of Sean Manchester. I was especially struck by the way Apparitions looked in the context of the previous night's edition of Dispatches on Channel 4, about Christian fundamentalists in Nigeria who torture and murder children they believe are possessed. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
You highlight the flaws I vaguely mentioned above, Ramsey. I particularly thought the bit suggesting that homosexuality left one open to demons bordered on being outright offensive. I'd like to have seen it more gritty - as Tont states - more like THE EXORCIST in tone and scope. As a daft piece of fluffy fantasy, it's decent enough, though. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.129.21.168 |
I thought it showed the positive sides of religion, how many good, more relaxed relgious people are in that they are more open minded and acceptant of gays. Shaw played a 'modern' priest, the kind like our local vicar who was quite happy to openly question the church's shenanigans over the years (even during his sermons). Sean Manchester to me seems a character escaped intact from Hammer studios. He did write a fun, creepy chapter in a book I once read on vampires, though. | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.74 |
You're spot on with Hammer, Tony. His Highgate Vampire book (expanded from the chapter you read) is full of borrowings from films and vampire fiction (as I detailed in my review). | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.129.21.168 |
Part of me pities him; he seems empty, rigid, hanging desperately to this persona. His books would sell if only he realised how daft he was and just enjoyed himself wrting. | ||
| Jonathan (Jonathan) Username: Jonathan Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.69.98.147 |
"You highlight the flaws I vaguely mentioned above, Ramsey. I particularly thought the bit suggesting that homosexuality left one open to demons bordered on being outright offensive." Yeah, I thought this was sailing a bit too close to the wind for comfort. Found that grated quite a lot actually. Especially the bit where he tells the gay priest that it's alright because he hasn't acted on his desires. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
Aye, Jon - that bit bugged me too. | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.70.11.219 |
I held my breath when the father took the child to the park and then was able to let it out gently.... | ||
| Jonathan (Jonathan) Username: Jonathan Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.69.98.147 |
The approach I prefer to this kind of horror can be found in the Hellblazer comics, particularly those written by Garth Ennis or Jamie Delano. They do have this background of Catholic evil but they also sort of suggest that the good guys are pretty bloody murky too and, if there is a God, he operates in very strange ways. | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 80.225.194.173 |
I enjoyed APPARITIONS. I missed the first fifteen minutes, but I think I caught up. As Zed says, this is top-drawer stuff considering it’s on the BBC at primetime nine of the clock. I mean, supernatural stuff. Priests doing exorcisms. Bloody dripping from the possessed’s eyes. You don’t get that on BAD GIRLS. I thought it was pretty stylish. Not perfect, of course, but then Joe Aherne’s previous show with supernatural tints, ULTRAVIOLET, wasn’t perfect. I don’t know this will turn out to be the semi-classic ULTRAVIOLET was, but I’m certainly gonna stick with it. Even Martin Shaw, an actor I’ve often found to be dull and uninspiring – though I quite liked the quiet portrayal he arrived at of his Inspector Dagleish – twinkles and seems to have made a bit of an effort. I noticed his character drives a beaten-up old Volvo as well, which I thought was a nice touch, an acknowledgment, I thought, to Phil Rickman’s series of novels featuring his female exorcist character Merrily Watkins, which has been in loose development for ITV for a while now. . . Bishop Manchester was making his presence felt round Kirklees Priory, said to be the resting place of Robin Hood, a couple or three years ago. I believe he was after exprcising Hood's ghost or something. Maybe he was in need of more material for a new book? | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 80.225.209.181 |
>>Especially the bit where he tells the gay priest that it's alright because he hasn't acted on his desires. If he'd been talking about a heterosexual hunger and said the same thing, would it have offended folk? I'm just wondering, in context of the celibacy vow. >>it's based on mediaeval claptrap Well, yes. But aren't ghosts and witches also?; and they're still a mainstay of fiction. | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 80.225.209.181 |
Ack! Sorry, Ramsey, I just read the rest of your post and see I've quoted you out-of-context. I was skim-reading and that bit caught my eye. My apologies. The nightmare portrayed on Channel 4 news was horrendous, showing the worst of religion. | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 80.225.209.181 |
I had a woman turn up at my door on Saturday, keen to tell me the "Truth." She'd even got a leaflet, so she must've been serious. A woman's got a leaflet, there's something going on. I chatted with her, quoted some of Professor Dawkins at her and, alas, she made her excuses and ran off. Normally I can have a good chat about such stuff for a full half hour at least before they run off . . . I'll have to keep the good Prof out of it next time. Chats about irreducible complexity turns people's faces pale. And you know, she didn't even leave me one of her leaflets. | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.43.119.113 |
The Missus has taped Apparitions...I will check it out. Claim to fame: - Martin Shaw hates me! He's another bloody precious actor who shops in my Waitrose.I walked past him once with a screaming hangover and said "look it's Bodie". He wasn't pleased. gcw | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.242.126 |
I walked past him once with a screaming hangover and said "look it's Bodie". That, my friend, is fucking genius. I once walked past the two members of Black Lace with a hangover, said "Look it's..." they began to grin because of the recognition, then I finished "it's fucking Agadoo!" They actually ran away, across the road, to avoid the laughter of strangers.  | ||
| Steve Bacon (Stevebacon) Username: Stevebacon Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 90.209.220.3 |
I quite enjoyed Appararitions. I also though each episode would be self contained, so we'll have to see how the arc pans out. The homosexual bashing didn't bother me - isn't that what the Catholic church does anyway? I think they were trying to highlight the differing attitudes of the Cardinal and Shaw's character. I was surprised it was so strong for BBC 1. I mean the father's intent with his daughter, rather than the skin flaying. I'll be interested to see how this develops. Religious horror is probably the sub genre that frightens me the most. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.242.126 |
The homosexual thing: it wasn't the character's attitude that bothered me, but the fact that the actual show suggested that being a homosexual opened one up to demons. I actually thought I's misunderstood at first, but then realised that I hadn't. | ||
| Steve Bacon (Stevebacon) Username: Stevebacon Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 90.209.220.3 |
But isn't that what the Catholic church say homosexuality is? A demon altering the 'natural' sexual preference, against the teachings of the Bible. It might sound like I'm being flippant here. I'm not. I don't know a great deal about religion, but I assumed their extreme views on homosexuality were based on the premise that it was another form of sin, therefore the work of the Devil. Apologies for my ignorance on Catholicism. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.242.126 |
Yeah, that's right, matey. But the programme suggested that they were correct. See what I'm saying? It left a bad taste. | ||
| Steve Bacon (Stevebacon) Username: Stevebacon Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 90.209.220.3 |
Yes, the programme did suggest that. I see what you mean. However, if the priests had been accepting of homosexuality I would've felt that Joe Aherne had watered down the fundamentalism of the religion. Let's face it, there's a great deal of hypocrisy in all religions, as well as extreme attitudes and out of date opinion. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.242.126 |
Specifically, I'm talking about the bathhouse scenes at the end. The young priest giving in to his urges. It was suggested that this made his fair game for evil. That was nothing to do with the characters attitudes, more to do with lazy writing. All organise religion is based on hypocricy and prejudice. | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 212.74.96.200 |
>>I walked past him once with a screaming hangover and said "look it's Bodie". Ha! That is top-drawer stuff, GCW. You're my hero. | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 212.74.96.200 |
Do you think he'd've been any happier if you'd said "It's Doyle"? And you shop in Waitrose, huh? Blimey. I'm off down to Lidl this afternoon . . . | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.43.119.113 |
..It the only supermarket in Wymondham mate...You'd be surprised who you bump into there.. gcw | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.141.80 |
 | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.43.119.113 |
| ||
| Stu (Stu) Username: Stu Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 86.29.96.206 |
Article/review of Apparitions at http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_and_radio/a rticle5088285.ece | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.129.20.12 |
Oh dear. Watched this tonight. Was it me or was the music notation based on some yawns? Did they dliberately make it so slow to fill the hour out? And is exorcism really this unthrilling? And how can horror be entirely unscary? And hasn't Satan realised that by showing himself so much he won't take faith away but back it up? Is Satan daft? And just how big are Martin Shaw's eyebags? Sigh... | ||
| Jonathan (Jonathan) Username: Jonathan Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.77.87.195 |
I actually thought this episode was better than last weeks. It's still slightly clunky but I thought the slower pace and the concentration on the characters worked a lot better. I also thought that the exorcism was suitably dramatic. They're also starting to do clever things with the muddy morality of it. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
I tend to swing with Jon, here (ooh-er). It's still very flawed, but improving a bit.I still don't know if I even like it, or am simply watching out of duty. You're 100% right about it not being scary though, Tony. :-( | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.129.20.12 |
Watching out of duty. That was me, too. You see I wanted to admire the pace and characterization but just felt bored, and kept remembering how creepy and good AND thought-provoking horror could be. This morning I watched a clip of Gregory Peck in The Omen where he quotes the bible after his wife has died, and his skill, the music, the lighting and camerawork were so, so evocative, and so dreadful (er, not in the 'crap' sense). Apparitions has yet to conjure one single scrap of that, a single clip from a purportedly naff film (to many eyes). And making evil sympathetic just takes away tension, becomes merely an intellectual exercise... I was told by the papers that this would be shocking telly. It hinted almost at depraved. I was hoping for something balls-out, a mad touch of the Enfield Poltergeist case about it. But this feels ... 'polite'. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.129.20.12 |
In fact, I was more scared by the eyebags than anything. (An old grandad I see outside my kid's school gates has HUGE eyebags, sort of grey-y brown, and they push against his glasses! They ARE scary...) | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.129.20.12 |
But you know what? I'll be watching the bloody thing next week because IT'S HORROR. What suckers we are! Always searching. | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.70.11.219 |
I think it is getting better all the time and also Martin Shaw presents an interesting exorcist. The scene with the lampshade amongst a shop flooded with light worked for me as did the references to the holocaust. I'll be watching next week. | ||
| Stu (Stu) Username: Stu Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 86.29.103.146 |
Not really finding it scary and Shaw's character is nowhere near as charismatic as he thinks he is but I thought this was better than last week's episode. The idea of the demon wanting to exorcise the priest was interesting. But I actually thought C4's The Devil's Whore was scarier -- one minute it's a historical drama, the next the Devil appears (twice) and the ghosts of slain soldiers are seen leaving the battlefield. (Actually, I'm not quite sure about that last bit, I wasn't really paying attention at that point so it may have been live soldiers walking through a fog.) | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
Yeah, the stuff with the skin kept me watching. Slightly perverse...yet, still, oddly polite, just as Tony says above. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
Stu - is that the Civil War thing? I think we recorded it. | ||
| Stu (Stu) Username: Stu Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 86.29.103.146 |
Yeah, the Civil War thing. Although it probably won't be so scary now I've spoilt the surprise. I'm hoping Apparitions is building up to something more shocking for the climax of the series. But whether it actualy is ... | ||
| Alansjf (Alansjf) Username: Alansjf Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 93.97.93.216 |
Stu, I thought those were the ghosts of dead soldiers too. And I thought The Devil's Whore was superb. Back on topic, I'm still kind of wavering with Apparitions. As with the first episode, there were bits of this one I liked, others that did nothing for me. The most interesting thing about it was the twist regarding the Monsignor at the end - that story I would've liked to have seen dealed with in more detail, rather than tacked on at the end. But I'm sure I'll tune in again next week... | ||
| Stu (Stu) Username: Stu Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 86.29.103.146 |
Alansjf, Oh, they were ghosts. Good. Like I say I wasn't really paying attention at that point. I have the attention span of -- oh, look, something shiny! | ||
| Jonathan (Jonathan) Username: Jonathan Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.143.178.131 |
Yeah, I wasn't entirely sure how the Monsignor achieved the murders. That did seem a bit confused and tacked on. | ||
| Stu (Stu) Username: Stu Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 86.29.103.146 |
SPOILER (Assuming I'm remembering things correctly) I think he only commited some of the murders e.g. the nun. He was framed for the other murders by Shaw. | ||
| Jonathan (Jonathan) Username: Jonathan Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.143.178.131 |
Ah I see, that's kind of what I thought but I still wasn't entirely sure why he'd offed the nun in that case. The plot device seemed a little wonky. | ||
| Stu (Stu) Username: Stu Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 86.29.103.146 |
SPOILER The demon wanted to kill everyone close to Shaw but for some reason only seems to be able to kill using a human agent. So the Monsignor set up that particular deathtrap as he could come and go as he pleased whereas the demon's host body would be recognised as that chap who goes around killing people. Plus, I don't think the possessed chappie could actually walk on consecrated ground so presumably it was Monsignor who left the Bible bound in human skin (coming soon as a limited edition from PS). | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.129.20.12 |
But why did the nun take the shower head off? And who on God's earth steps under the shower before turning the water on? You see, I shouldn't be picky, but little lazinesses like that bug the hell out of me. (Ooh - what a biblical-sounding post...) | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 212.74.96.200 |
I'm enjoying it. Nice to see a considered piece of spicy supernatural stuff on telly. (I take the shower head off when it doesn't work, Tony. Sorry. Has a tendancy to silt up as well if you're in certain type of water areas, thoughc an't recall if it's hard or soft. Needs unclogging now and again.) | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 83.98.9.4 |
Is it my imagination or does everyone who gets naked in Apparitions get killed moments later? I still think it's using cops and robbers stories but using demons and priests. The teaser for next week did look quite good. I'm still reserving judgement at the moment. | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.43.119.113 |
It's actually not bad...though not GREAT mind. Next time I see Bodie in Waitrose I will compliment him on his new telly programme. On second thoughts.... gcw | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.44.101.224 |
When they ask if he's brought his own bags he can tell them yes, he's brought TWO. Hey - Satan could bind a Harry Potter with the skin from Shaw's eyes. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.44.101.224 |
Apparitions made me realise you never see naked black women. This is the first time I have. | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.152.205.52 |
Yeah, what's that about? | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.253.174.81 |
Just caught up on the first two episodes of this yesterday, & here's what I thought: In a year when one of the worst movies was Dario Argento's "Mother of Tears" who would have thought that the place to expect something in the spirit of the Good Old Fashioned Italian Horror Movie would come from the BBC? So far APPARITIONS is acquitting itself nicely as the heir to any number of ropey euro-horrors of the 70s and 80s. The direction is reminiscent of Michele Soavi being dumped in Richmond and being told to get on with it. The visuals of church interiors are so grandly shot they could be hanging in the Louvre, whereas the move to a more outre setting like a bath house gives us oversaturated Inferno-like blues that are almost painful on the eye. Again in keeping with Spaghetti horror there are some fun murders, and somehow we all knew someone would end up flayed by the end of episode one. The plot is daft, but just about hangs together. There are attempts at authenticity that almost make it but don't (the hospital at the start of episode one should have the sign written in Bengali - there's not a single hospital in Calcutta with its sign written in Hindi). Holding the thing together is Martin Shaw, who is surprisingly good, with an almost Patrick Stewart-like ability to make potentially duff dialogue sound good ("Read the job description sister" &c &c). So did I like it? Yes I did. There's a style to it that will keep me watching, and in fact I hope it gets even more ludicrous week by week, with all Shaw's dead colleagues coming back as zombies by episode five. In the wake of Bonekickers, Merlin & the execrable Robin Hood remake this is actually quite good, and while that may be damning it with faint praise, it's praise indeed | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 83.98.9.4 |
I quite like Merlin Daft fun | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.43.119.113 |
"Apparitions made me realise you never see naked black women. This is the first time I have." I seen 'em! gcw  | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.152.197.97 |
Any good? | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.44.101.224 |
He's shagged some. Funny but I keep thinking I don't fancy black women at all, but then there have been times when I really have face-to-face. It's like in telly or the media there's a 'type', but out in the real world you meet all the nice permutations, and they're lovely. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.44.101.224 |
You see I like quiet, shy, bookish folk, and on telly where are the quiet shy bookish black women? God but I moan. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.242.126 |
I like bums and boobies. | ||
| Steve Bacon (Stevebacon) Username: Stevebacon Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 90.209.220.40 |
Gary, has your wife run out of your Bromide salts again? | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.43.119.113 |
"I like bums and boobies." Thatsch Ma Boy! gcw | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.43.119.113 |
"He's shagged some." If it's possible to type the above line in a.."eye-rolling-he-would-bloody-say-that-way" then Tony has achieved it! Yes I have shagged some. gcw | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.23.233.247 |
Amazing. Was it good? (speaking as someone who hasn't shagged many of anything) | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.43.119.113 |
Very nice thank you Tony. gcw | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.242.126 |
Tony, you really need to get out more.  | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.23.233.247 |
Any photies? Pics? Me coat is ... thereaboots. | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.43.119.113 |
Hah! Only in my memories Tone... gcw | ||
| Steve Bacon (Stevebacon) Username: Stevebacon Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 90.209.220.40 |
Just watched the third episode. I thought this was the best so far. Very dark again, and probably the most violent thing I have ever seen on BBC ONE. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.44.101.224 |
Yes, best so far. It had more drive and bite, felt more 'in the moment'. I'm trying to think why and can only conclude it might be because it felt a bit self contained, or more so than the others at least. Glad it's picked up, and that it was a bit more creepy. | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.70.124.44 |
Totally agree - a certain fluidity to it and drew people into the story really well. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.44.101.224 |
I think it's because telly now seems to want a series to be one long story, which for me can be a strain, and which can harm an hour long narrative. This felt rounded now I think about it and gained more urgency as a result. | ||
| Stu (Stu) Username: Stu Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 86.29.102.164 |
Still not entirely convinced by this series but this ep was the best so far. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.242.126 |
Thankfully, I think this has finally come into its own. Really enjoyed this ep, and I think the series has just been a bit of a slow-starter. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 83.98.9.4 |
I was still reserving judgement on this but after this weeks episode that I saw last night, I'm starting to feel quite impressed. It's built nicely. Just as long as the ending's not a damp squib next week. | ||
| Simon Bestwick (Simon_b) Username: Simon_b Registered: 10-2008 Posted From: 86.24.165.182 |
Still only up to Ep 3 but catching up on iPlayer tonight. Enjoying it so for anyway- Shaw is excellent. The big question is whether John Shrapnel's character is just an obstructive bureaucrat or another Satanic 'mole'. (Sorry, been watching too much 'Spooks'.) | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.70.84.247 |
Yes - still with it. Looking forward to next week. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.242.126 |
I'm enjoying this. The abortion episode was very impressive. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.163.241.252 |
I like this too. Caught up with all the eps and looking forward to next week. Shaw is good, as are most of the folk in it. Can't somehow believe it's a regular tv series; it seems too good. | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 90.203.130.211 |
I'm still enjoying it. The abortion episode was very good (I think there's an even better story waiting to be told about that) but hooray! Scary glowing-eyed demons walking on water on BBC1! | ||
| Simon Bestwick (Simon_b) Username: Simon_b Registered: 10-2008 Posted From: 86.24.165.182 |
Just watched episodes 4 and 5 (the abortion one and the one after that) back to back. HOLY. FUCKING. SHIT. No pun intended. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.242.126 |
The Virgin Mary one was creepy, too. That kid silently speaking to the vision...it was very well done, I thought. | ||
| Simon Bestwick (Simon_b) Username: Simon_b Registered: 10-2008 Posted From: 86.24.165.182 |
The Virgin Mary one, yes. What a fucking ending. The 'inverted' exorcism... Shaw's performance was incredible. And from the trailer it looks like they're pulling all the stops out next week... | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.129.23.231 |
Yeah, it picked up. I liked the prison one best, but the one this last week was creepiest (the bit in the prison). Next weeks looks like Arnie might be in it, it looks so actiony. | ||
| Jonathan (Jonathan) Username: Jonathan Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.77.43.145 |
Just caught up with last week's episode and now that I can see how Aherne built it all up, yowzers but it's good! The confused morality of it all is actually rather necessary to the plot and the performances are spot on. Those last few minutes of that ep were pure dynamite. | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.70.113.156 |
Dashes over to computer....bloody hell. Thought it was a brilliant finale! | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.242.126 |
terrific, wasn't it? Cherie Lunghi's burning demonic nun was simply inspired. The series grew in stature as it went along, and the last 3 eps were great. I hope it gets a second series. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.159.18 |
I thought it was a bloody good series. Wonder if they'll have a Christmas special... | ||
| Alansjf (Alansjf) Username: Alansjf Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 94.194.134.45 |
"Wonder if they'll have a Christmas special..." The nativity Apparitions style ... I'd watch. But Xmas special or no, I'd say the door is open for another series. For one thing, I still don't know whose side the Cardinal is really on - I got the impression Jacob doesn't think it's his ... guess it's down to the powers that be at the BBC. | ||
| Jonathan (Jonathan) Username: Jonathan Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.69.54.142 |
I liked it a lot although SPOILER ALERT Didn't Michael kill himself in the penultimate episode? I presume him walking around after was in some kind of supernatural form? The series is worth watching for Martin Shaw's performance alone. | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 212.74.96.200 |
I enjoyed. wasn't overawed by the finale, but I enjoyed, all things considered. (I quite liked WALLANDER as well, so have been watching a bit of telly lately, but prefered the Swedeish movie versions they showed on BBC4 on Monday evenings.) | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.159.18 |
I've recorded Wallander - just halfway through the first episode at the moment. | ||
| Simon Bestwick (Simon_b) Username: Simon_b Registered: 10-2008 Posted From: 86.24.165.182 |
I really hope they do another series. That was one hell of an ending to the first one. Rivetting stuf, and Shaw is mesmerising throughout. The Siobhan Finneran character is excellent too. Loved her confession scene- 'What are you waiting for, sexual thoughts about you? That's your lot!' Classic. Seen one of the WALLANDER episodes to date, and loved it. And people used to say Branagh couldn't act?! Ha! | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 212.74.96.200 |
>>I've recorded Wallander Did you record the Swedeish movie versions, Mick? The sense of the landscape was more pronounced in them, and there's something about the film quality that makes the movies grander even than Kenny Branagh's best efforts, despite his considerable talents. Awfully sad about the girl who played Linda Wallander in the movies, too. | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 212.74.96.200 |
>>And people used to say Branagh couldn't act?! Did they really? I've always enjoyed him. True, he always looks like Kenneth Branagh "acting", but I still think he's good. I missed the first Wallander, but enjoyed the second and third. I have issues witht he books, though. Mainly the number of cliches per page. I mean, come on: "He wouldn't do that for all the tea in China." Now, to me, that suggests it's too cliched a phrase for even the worst translator to have put in unless the source material had it. . . MInd, Mankell has shifted 25 million books, which is very good going on almost anyone's scale. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.159.18 |
Did you record the Swedeish movie versions, Mick? I didn't know they were on, Mark - just got the Branagh ones. Oh, and the hour long documentary as well. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.0.112.152 |
Mark, I think writers who use too many cliches are over-egging the pudding. | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 212.74.96.200 |
yes. One of the primary rules of writing: avoid cliches ... like the plague. Mick, the movies were well worth a watch. Pity you missed them. Because the cast were all unknowns (to us, them being Swedes) there was no great heavy presence in the middle of them, like Branagh, to distort your sympathies. Having said that, the characters often did very stupid things that I'd've never have forgiven them for in a non-subtitled piece . . . | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.145.240.86 |
..Just to stick my two pennorth worth in on Apparitions...I was pretty impressed overall, intelleigent, ambiguous, and occasionally scary. Michael was a fine character, likeable and vulnerable for a rapist,murdering,demon possessed chap. I felt a little let down he was simply disposed of at the end..A little more pathos needed there I thought, but still..Good stuff indeed. Well done Bodie! gcw | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 212.74.96.200 |
If anyone on the is board ever bumps into Lewis Collins, they should say "Hey, it's Doyle!" Mind you, he seems more likely to smack you in the teeth than the other fella. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.168.4.162 |
Or they could try this... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/4141768/Judge-John-Deed-actor-Martin-Shaw -harassed-by-stalker-pensioner.html | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.253.174.81 |
I missed the first Wallander, but enjoyed the second and third. Same here, & I don't watch a lot of crime stuff. It was criticised for being bleak but I didn't really think so. Mind you it had Sarah Smart in it who alway brightens up TV stuff for me |